Recap: Chuck vs the Bullet Train (5.11)

January 21, 2012Uncategorized782 Views

Your favorite show will reset in 60 minutes…59 minutes….58…57…56…

Wow, talk about mind games! We’re definitely in the homestretch! With two episodes (and one week) to go, we finally know what the endgame will be and I think it caught a lot of fans (including me) by surprise.

In the last seconds of last week’s episode, Sarah uploaded the (bugged) Intersect so she could save herself and Casey. This week’s story picks up with Chuck held captive by Quinn in a bullet train in Tokyo. Quinn is taking him to his base where he wants him to fix the Intersect for him. Quinn tells Chuck that Casey and Sarah have delivered the Intersect glasses to his henchmen and were then killed. When Quinn leaves the train compartment, Chuck attempts to escape, but is caught by Quinn’s henchmen.

As one would expect, Casey and Sarah are not, in fact, deceased. It turns out that it was Sarah, using the Intersect, who sent the message to Quinn reporting their deaths. They sneak aboard the train in the cargo car in some pretty fancy coffins (with their names on the outside?!) and show up right after Chuck is caught by Quinn’s henchmen. It should come as no surprise that Sarah is about as awesome as it is possible to be with the Intersect on board and she quickly apprehends the goons and tosses them from the train window. Chuck is impressed by her skills and she tells him she’s been working on some new moves.

Chuck and Sarah head back to the baggage car to get Casey. They try to get off the train but they can’t override the computer. Quinn shows up and Sarah quickly incapacitates him and they lock him in one of the coffins. Sarah slips and uses the word “flash” and has to come clean to Chuck about the Intersect. Yes, she did upload a faulty copy like Morgan’s, but she’s not worried, because it took a month before Morgan started to lose his social skills and memory.

Back in Burbank, Ellie, Devon, Alex and Morgan are in Castle. Ellie has Morgan hooked up to a bunch of electrodes and is trying to figure out what made the Intersect malfunction and how they can save Sarah from the same fate. Ellie eventually realizes that it’s the number of flashes, rather than the amount of time that the Intersect is uploaded, that really matters. Morgan is antsy because he wants to be in Japan with the team rather than stuck in Castle as a lab rat, so Alex offers to get him some of his favorite snacks to placate him. She heads up to the Buy More.

At the Buy More, the “flu bus” is in the parking lot and they are offering free flu shots to employees. Big Mike is not in the mood for a flu shot as he doesn’t believe in vaccines and he’s had about enough of dealing with Lester. Jeff and Lester get together after Big Mike tells Lester off and Jeff tries to get Lester to get back involved with their quest to get to the bottom of what’s been happening to them lately. He’s sure that someone has tried to wipe their memories. Meanwhile, Alex comes up for snacks and gets kidnapped by the “flu bus” people while Jeffster watches. Jeff is determined to save her and find the truth, even if they have to face “mortal danger”.

Back on the train, Chuck and Sarah decide to pass the time until the next station by “practicing making a family” in one of the train compartments. Afterward, they lay together in bed while Chuck draws a picture of the two of them together, in front of a house with a picket fence, with Sarah holding a baby. Their romantic moment is interrupted by a text from Casey – he needs a break from watching Quinn. Chuck and Sarah head back to the baggage car where they find an empty coffin and Casey, who pulls a gun on them.

Quinn has abducted Alex and is going to kill her if he doesn’t do what Quinn says. Casey manages to get a message to Chuck without alerting Quinn. Chuck texts Morgan and tells him to find Alex and save her. Morgan and Devon spring into action. Luckily for them, Jeffster is on the case and they have already sugared the gas tank of the “flu bus”, disabling it.

In the train dining car, Quinn tells Chuck and Sarah that he wants the Intersect. He has the glasses and he know that one of them has the Intersect. If he doesn’t call his men every half hour, Alex will be killed. Quinn wants them to obtain a “pristine” version of the Intersect from a government computer and reload the glasses for him. After they buy Alex another half hour, Sarah flashes and takes out Quinn, throwing him out the window of the train even as Chuck and Casey yell to her to stop because they may need him to find Alex. Turns out that Sarah can’t control the Intersect anymore. Even worse, seconds later, she falls to the floor as pain shoots through her head.

Chuck calls Ellie and she tells him that it is imperative that Sarah not flash anymore. It turns out that flashing 40 (!) times in 2 days is not healthy… Chuck needs to keep her from flashing until Beckman or Ellie can suppress the Intersect. The problem is that Sarah can’t stop from flashing. Ellie suggests that Chuck can try to make his own suppression device and Ellie can send him the program. Chuck steals a bunch of electronics (including a [easyazon-link asin=”B001KMRN0M”]PSP[/easyazon-link], of course!) from the people on the train and goes to work. He’s almost done downloading the suppression program when the train Internet connection fails. At the same time, Chuck and Sarah realize that Sarah is starting to lose her memory – she doesn’t remember who Alex is!

Casey contacts Morgan and tells him that he needs to save Alex. Devon will help him and be “the magnet” and he is going to pick a fire fight with the agents in the bus. Devon and Morgan arm themselves from the arsenal in the back of Casey’s Crown Vic. Before they can mount their offensive, however, one of Quinn’s goons sneaks up on them and apprehends them. Morgan’s earpiece falls to the pavement where Jeffster finds it. Casey is forced to come mostly clean to Jeff and Lester, telling them that he, Sarah, and Chuck are government agents and their country (“Canada?”) needs them. It takes them a while to believe him, but they agree to help. They also [over]arm themselves from the Crown Vic trunk.

Back in Japan, apparently Quinn is NOT dead (surprise, surprise!) and has apparently just been hanging onto the train (REALLY? It’s going 200 mph!!!). He opens a maintenance hatch, scares a bunch of Japanese travelers, and re-enters the train.

Back in Burbank, Jeff and Lester break into the bus intercom system and lure one of the Quinn’s men outside where he sees Lester dressed as a cross between [easyazon-link asin=”B0015XHP2W”]Rambo[/easyazon-link] and [easyazon-link asin=”B000F9RB9Y”]The Terminator[/easyazon-link], complete with a rocket launcher, body armor, his Nerd Herd tie as a headband, and a large cigar. The flu bus guy isn’t buying it, though, until Jeff shows up behind him with a flamethrower and he surrenders. They rescue Morgan, Devon, and Alex and tie up the flu bus agents. In repayment, Jeffster wants the truth and so Morgan takes them to Castle where they pretty much have to touch everything.

Back in Japan, Chuck goes to repair the train’s internet connection and is attacked by Quinn. Turns out Quinn’s been a bit obsessed with the Intersect’s programming, so we have the battle of the “used to have Intersect” with the “want to have Intersect”. They fight and eventually Quinn seems to have the upper hand over Chuck until Casey shows up. Quinn takes a train crewmember hostage and escapes. Sarah leaves the compartment to go after him and Quinn locks the doors between the cars so that Chuck and Casey can’t get to Sarah. Sarah tries not to flash and Quinn quickly tranqs her. He then separates the baggage car from the rest of the train and Chuck and Casey watch as Sarah and Quinn move away at 200 mph.

We next see Sarah in a warehouse, tied to a chair (apparently back in the LA area). Quinn is going to suppress the Intersect, but he’s going to do it by suppressing her memories entirely. Then he’ll use her to get a clean version of the Intersect. He shows her “flash cards” with images that he knows are in the Intersect and with each flash, she loses another memory.

Chuck and Morgan are in Castle and Chuck is frantic, trying to figure out where Sarah could be. They get a signal from Sarah’s emergency beacon and realize that she’s close by. Chuck, Casey, and Morgan go to save her, but when they get to the warehouse, it’s empty. All they find is a note that says “nice try” next to her emergency beacon. Casey assures Chuck that they will find her.

In the next scene, it’s morning and Sarah wakes up in bed wearing familiar PJs, in a familiar place – her hotel room/apartment from S1 and 2 (deja vu). There’s a knock at the door (more deja vu!) and she answers it with her gun in hand. Quinn’s at the door. She doesn’t recognize him. He tells her that he’s been her handler for 5 years and that she is recovering from a head injury and just spent a week in the hospital. She doesn’t remember about Japan or the bullet train. He shows her a picture of Chuck and she doesn’t recognize him. He tells her that Chuck is the reason that her last mission failed and gives her a new mission – kill Chuck Bartowski!!!

I knew that we were in for a tense episode, but I didn’t foresee where the story was going to end up at all this time. Overall, I really liked the episode. We got more [initial] closure in the Chuck and Sarah relationship, more Bartowski family togetherness, and more excellent use of Jeffster as comic relief. I take back every thought I had and comment I may have made during seasons 3 and 4 that might have suggested that they were past their prime. Their involvement in the past few episodes has been hilarious!

The only thing I wasn’t fond of in the episode was the whole Quinn character. I reserved judgement on him last week, but now I have to say that for him to have such an important role in the series, I’m just not impressed with the character. Chuck has had so many great villains over the seasons – Roark, Shaw, Volkoff, Decker, etc – that Quinn seems very one-dimensional in comparison. Not sure if it’s the acting or writing, but the character is just not as believable as I would like, even though I’m okay with the motivations that he’s been given. On paper it seems okay, but it just isn’t working for me on screen. The major leap of faith required to believe that Quinn managed to hang onto the side of a speeding bullet train for a half hour or more certainly did nothing to add to the credibility of the character, either.

That said, I loved the twist of Sarah losing her memory and starting over again, thinking she needs to kill Chuck. I’m sure this idea has been used before in other stories, but all I could think of was the similar “hijacking” of a character in the [easyazon-link asin=”0545265355″]The Hunger Games Trilogy[/easyazon-link], another obsession of mine. Just like in that series, this revelation is going to make for an exciting, emotional episode next week and brings a lot more meaning to episode 5.12’s title: Chuck vs Sarah. For all of you who couldn’t sleep last night worrying that Chuck or Sarah is going to die or not end up together, take a deep breath. I’m confident that they will get their happily ever after, even if the path there isn’t as smooth as they had hoped. Whatever happens, one thing is for certain: by this time next week, we’ll all know how it ends!

Memorable quotes and other notables:

Chuck’s wedding ring is a lock pick!

Retro opening credits! (although I missed Short Skirt, Long Jacket)

…hey guys, it was stuffy in here, so I thought I’d open a window…try to escape – Chuck

That was some major ass whooping, honey! What have you been taking? Strip kick? – Chuck

Did anything different happen on missions? – Ellie
Yeah, I started wearing tight slacks – Morgan

I don’t want to live my life in danger anymore! I’m ready to retire and start a family – Sarah

Is it really your destiny to be a complete moron? – Big Mike to Lester

The newly unimpaired you is a master…of the obvious! – Lester to Jeff

We should be keen and clever, utilizing our unique talents. – Jeff
Do we have any of those? – Lester
I think you are uniquely wasteful and destructive! – Jeff

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50 comments

I knew Sarah was going to lose her memory. A few weeks ago, after reading several spoilers, I realized that Chuck would lose something and would have to fight to put back everything he has done over the last few years. My conclusion then? Sarah would forget him somehow. However, I refused to entertain this notion because it was so revolting to me. Unfortunately, this nightmare came true in this episode.

‘Revolting” is a good word. And disappointed. I never needed a reset on Chuck and Sarah. I’ve always known that they love each other. Why this had to be done so late in a series finale just is disappointing to me. Lots to do to resolve this for a satisfying ending. And I guess no pregnancy either. That was a red herring thrown in those past episodes.

Yeah, as fellow (but struggling) writer, I wasn’t to pleased with Fedak’s rather revolting, to steal an adjective, plot device.

But I have to give credit where it is most definitely due. CHUCK’S cast is one of the finest around. Zach and Yvonne actually make me want to care how a plot device, which I fully despise, turns out. If it weren’t for this cast of actors, I would have given up on CHUCK’S contrived storytelling and massive dismissals of plot a long, long time ago, as I’m sure many of others would have. The executive producers are extraordinarily lucky to have them.

And Smart Jeff should have been introduced a long time ago. The Buy More hasn’t been this funny since Season 2.

I think the episode was great. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Although I don’t I didn’t really like Sarah losing her memory but it was a scene that I was like WHAAAT? Oh and btw I think flash cards weren’t tings that were in the intersect but as he said <> meaning that these images would just stimulate the intersect into activating so Sarah would flash. 😀 Overall I hate the show to go and I wish it did better rating so it would continue.

While I understand you’re upset the show is ending, I dont quite understand “Im angry that NBC cut the journey the way they have.” On any other network, the show would have been canceled after season 2. The only reason Chuck has survived this long is because NBC has such problems across the board right now ratings wise and because the WB gave NBC a really really good deal for these final 13 episodes. Without that deal, we wouldnt have even gotten 13 (all to get it to syndication levels). Im sorry, Im not trying to disparage you in any way, I just see the “I still maintain Chuck had a least one more season in it” and just dont get how people take that attitude. Im grateful we got 5 seasons period. The show is making no money for NBC whatsoever and yet they were still kind enough to keep it around

Shows like Chuck just dont seem to stick around. Yet shows like Law and Order and its 1000 iterations stay on season after season. Amazing how another fav show of mine, Smallville, lasted 10 years, and this Chuck is gone after 5, with 2 of those seasons not even being the full 22-24 episode order

Im ok with this storyline, but fear it might be rushed however good or bad it ends. Something like this would have been interesting to see pulled off over 5-6 episode storyarc

Cay- You caught a lot of good stuff in the recap. Thanks. Yes, I loved the opening credits. I also agree, from the start, about not too happy with Quinn’s performance. And, Lester’s getup and words and cigar were hysterical. I am thrilled that Jeffster came to the rescue and then got to see castle. After five years they deserved it.

I especially liked the scene when both Sarah and Chuck started talking about how cool it was to have the Intersect and be so powerfull. Couple of kids in a candy store. Then there is Sarah’s version of “flashing”. It seems so lady like compared to others. That is until it goes haywire. Loved the episode overall.

this episode was genius, and it´s probably that i´m not a good critic because for me the entire show it´s absolutely breath taking!!! but even when it was magnific it was also sad because it makes you realize that the “end” is so close, because even when we are not going to be waiting for a new episode, we already received the best gift, cuz nothing can be compared to the memories we have collected that are going to last forever. it has been a great 5 years ride and I think is good to say that my life is never gonna be the same without chuck. And of course thank you Cay and than you to all the fans that made the show even more special for me.

I love the Hunger Games too, and you are so right this situtation is very Peeta-/Katniss esque, I very much hope that Sarah gets all her memories back, and I think she will, and Quin dies a horrible horrible death. Most of the other villains have had a comedy factor to them but Quin is just evil, and that is a nice change, but I kinda miss the Volcoff/ Roark esque villians.

Certain comments always baffle me. “I don’t want Sarah to get beaten up!” “I don’t want Sarah to lose her memory!” “I don’t like Chuck dating Kristin Kreuk!” I’m wondering if these people would like an episode where absolutely NOTHING happens beyond the characters eating dessert and talking about how great the dessert is.

All storytelling requires that characters be given *problems* to overcome. If they aren’t given problems, they have nothing to do and there’s no drama.

Very much agree. I loved the season 3 love triangles with Shaw even though most people didn’t. He was a great villian (and even more eye candy for us ladies along with Adam, Zach and Ryan and the guy who played Bryce whose name escapes me right now) and problems need to happen or there’s no action.

Season 3 was my favorite, although this definitely puts me in the less vocal minority. I had no problem with the Shaw story line because I knew it would work out for Chuck and Sarah at the end. I thought Sarah turned to Shaw too quickly,but other than that, I had absolutely no issues. The Other Guy is definitely in my top 5!

The episode really set up for the drama in the final 2 episodes. I have a feeling though that the by the end of the first episode things with Sarah will be sorted out and the second episode will deal with their futures. Its such a bitter-sweet occasion the final ep. looking forward to it but don’t want it to happen.

Woah there is so much angst about the memory loss plot and for obvious reasons there is a rush of theories on how the finale will pan out next week. But in the midst of all our sadness about the end being near I just have to say how awesome this episode was. It would be in my top ten for sure. It was epic. It had all the elements of Chuck I have come to adore – some awesome ass kicking of bad guys, the drama of the ending, the comedy gold that is Jeff & Lester (who shows he’s not just great in drag but in over the top combat gear), we had the integration of the medical knowledge of the Awesomes, the crazy villain, the nerdy know how of Chuck as he used his stolen goods to build a supression device and crucially we had the chemistry and love between Chuck and Sarah.
Sure the ending had me wondering how on earth we are going to get the resolution to the show. But I felt relaxed. This was another awesome episode in the greatest TV series I’ve ever followed. The creators know what they are doing and I trust that next week will be a triumphant end,

P.S oh and as the people of Chucks world – Ellie, Awesome, Morgan, Alex, Jess and Lester were all in castle as “Team Bartowski” were out in the field it felt like just another final step of integration. Need Big Mike in on it and all would be complete.

There are two options now.. either, Sarah gets her memories back – or she will re-love Chuck without getting her memories back.. if the latter will be the case… I’m going to ignore anything after 4X13 when rewatching it… the 5th Season has been disapointing so far and I really didn’t want a Chuck/Sarah reset for the Finale…no… honestyl.. I hate it

jmc, I tend to evaluate seasons of Chuck by the mid-season finale (usually around ep.13) or the season finale in 13 episode blocks as that is usually how the arc has been setup over the years always being on the bubble. So until seeing the finale for season 5 I’m still reserving judgment. However I of course probably have similar favorites to yours:

These are my top 3…
Season 2 Finale (Ellie’s Wedding)…
Season 4 Mid-Series Finale (Chuck’s Showdown with Volkoff)…
Season 3 Mid-Season Finale (The Bridge in France)…

VERY VERY curious where the Season 5/ Series Finale will fall within these favorites. Open mind Chuck fans… keep an open mind and enjoy the finale on Friday. I know I will.

I’m not judging the finale or season 5 until the last two episodes have aired.

Depending on what happens in them, season 5 will probably end up being my 2nd favorite season (s4 with Timothy Dalton is just too hard to beat) AND leave me with good memories of Chuck.. OR it will ruin the whole show for me. I don’t see much middle ground there to be honest.

My own favorite finales/mid-season finales:

Push Mix
Ring part 1
Cliffhanger

I thought “the Other Guy” was too little too late, but “the Honeymooners” and what followed it made up for it.

I generally liked this latest episode given the current path of the story. My real disappointment came by the end of the previous episode when the final path of the Chuck story became clear and my realization that the best episodes of the series are probably in the past. I was hoping for a final story line that was more clever and interesting, but sadly this does seem to be the case. Nevertheless, I still really enjoy the characters on the show and I am curious how the writers will resolve all of the dangling stories threads that remain.

I have not been in total sink with a Wooten episode last season and felt he best taken in doses with being a co-writer. So I was probably bit bias when saw he was sole writer. I think he doing a better job tying in Buy More on this episode. Of course I think the store being tied in a lot better this season than past two.

I concur with your take on the episode and plan to do a re-watch of the this and 5.10 to lead into finale. I now realize the show been in planting a bunch of memory triggers leading into this series finale which I think helps sell this amnesia plot some. Thanks Cay for sharing and miss your episode recaps

For me, the whole ‘Sarah losing her memory’ thing was kind of an interesting twist for the show, but it would have been better in the mid-season. I agree that Sarah not getting back her memory and instead of re-loving Chuck would be very disappointing, because she has grown a lot through the 5 seasons, so I really, really hope that Sarah can get back her memory by the end of the 12th episode and maybe discover that she’s pregnant so the we can watch more Sarah and Chuck moments in the 13th episode.

I can’t believe we’re 5 days until the end of the show, I’m pretty sad about it, but I think that, at least, it was good to have a wrap up for the show instead of having an unfinished show.

I hope the writers and producers don’t disappoint us and give us a GREAT finale next Friday. Let’s hope for the better =)

You ask what I mean about cutting Chucks 5th season short:
I think the Quinn Character is rushed & is to pradictible (excuse spelling). Don’t get get me wrong Bo & Builet Train have been dramatic for Chuck Sarah & Team Bartowski. But Quinn isn’t as strong as I’d have liked as the Big Bad. If NBC have given a back 6 his character could have been honed/explored much better somehow. He still comes across as a spoilt child. I mean why does he want the Intersect so badly? What’s his motovation? Weather you like Season 4 or not – you have to agree Dalton’s Volkoff has more depth to him & thus more unpredictible. Granted Volkoff’s Character semi drove S4.

Thank you for the reply! 🙂 I do understand your points. And I do wish we could have had more development. Though, I honestly cant blame NBC too much for this. The writers knew going in that they would have (a very high probability) of only 13 episodes to work with. They could have easily cut out some things…like honestly…though I really did love the episode, the part about Sara’s sister or even bringing Shaw back at all. I ge the writers wanted to sort of tie all of it together but I guess if something had to go to enable better development of the last big bad I would have picked those things and probably cut down on Morgansect too. I promise Im not an NBC apologist. Theyve kind of forced the show in earlier seasons to develop oddly since the writers never knew if theyd get a back 9. But this time around, I feel like its not honestly NBCs fault. Though I would have loved a back 6. I hope you enjoy it too!

Well, a week or so ago I made a prediction about the final episodes, http://chucktv.net/2012/01/10/spoilers-what-is-chucks-final-nemesis-up-to/. It looks like I was half right: I thought Quinn would try to use the intersect to turn Chuck into his soldier, but he’s doing it with Sarah instead–at least I was in the ballpark.

I have a few theories about how things will end up, but it’s sounding like Quinn will send Sarah into a government base to steal the new intersect, a la Bryce in the pilot. That would make for some good symmetry. I also think that Sarah’s memories will be restored by some combination of Chuck getting through to her and an Ellie/Awesome/Beckman technical solution. That way it wouldn’t be too drawn out, but also wouldn’t be too much of a quick fix.

I do hope we get a little more Quinn backstory though, relating to his time at the CIA. Maybe one of the reasons Bryce stole it at the beginning was that he knew Quinn would be corrupted by the power (or knew he was bad to begin with), and wanted to keep the intersect from him. My prediction about Quinn being the one who ordered the hit on Shaw’s wife is probably inaccurate, but we’ll see.

Regardless, I have high hopes for the final episodes. Sorry for another long message…I guess I kind of like this “posting” thing…

I’m problably way off here, but I do think the whole Sarah memory loss will not be resolved until the final episode “Chuck vs the Goodbye”. Chuck and the gang will not be able to prevent her from completing her mission 100% (other than killing Chuck), so the second episode will require everyone working together to save Sarah and stop Quinn for good.

The picture Chuck drew of them as a family will help her get her memory back. She said in this episode when he showed it to her that she could never forget it. Like everyone else I just hope the reunion is not rushed.

For me Quinn is a letdown compared to the other big bads that Team Bartowski has faced. Too little, too late for this evil-doer who should have surfaced earlier in the season.

The other problem that I had with this episode is that Casey had several chances to take out Quinn after he had issued the kill order on Alex. The Casey we all know and love wouldn’t have hesitated to kill Quinn during his fight with Chuck or even when he grabbed the Japanese conductor. Either Casey is longing for a normal life like Chuck and Sarah or he should have called Gertrude to bring out his inner hero.

I like Quinn much more than Decker. He has an interesting character and I would have liked to have seen him around earlier. Decker however bothered me from the beginning and he didn’t really seem to fit well with the story.

This was definitely one of my favorite episodes. This was the most I have laughed during an episode for quite a while. Jeff and Lester were great. The end was crazy and Im excited to see how it all plays out. I could not wait to rewatch this episode and was calling friends at 1:00am trying to find someone still awake to talk Chuck with.

I can’t believe its ending. I remember watching each of the episodes for the first time and trying to figure out what would happen next. It has always exceeded my expectations. I plan on rewatching the series many times but it won’t be quite the same knowing that there will never be any new episodes.

Thanks chucktv.net for always keeping me up to date on the latest Chuck news

Goodbye Chuck you will be missed and I can’t wait to see where the cast goes next

Can someone please tell me where I can watch this episode online? I haven’t missed an episode yet this season, but I had to work last Friday and usually depended on NBC.com or Hulu in the past if I missed one, but there are no new Chuck episodes available on either site (what’s up with that?). Thanks! 🙂

Unfortunately, there is nowhere legal to watch it online this season. 🙁 Maybe you can find a friend who DVRed it?

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